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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Biblical Horizons

Entropy and Depravity

What do you think of the way "creation science" uses the "second law of thermodynamics" to argue that human society will become more and more depraved, and that the universe is running down? Creation Science is not monolithic, and so it would be unfair to say that everyone working in…

by James B. JordanOctober 24, 1992
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Deuteronomy

The Firstborn Son’s Double Portion

From time to time we receive questions that are interesting, and that other people would also be interested in. I'll [address] two such questions in this issue [and the next]. I recently made a will which, in the event that my wife does not survive me, grants my eldest son…

by James B. JordanOctober 24, 1992
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Biblical Studies

Meredith G. Kline and the Myth of the Old Testament

As we go from Old Testament chronology to New Testament chronology, it will be a good idea to examine a deep-seated myth that is profoundly intertwined with Biblical Christianity. I have in mind the myth that there is in the Bible such a thing as a collection of books called…

by James B. JordanOctober 24, 1992
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Biblical Studies

Umberto Cassuto and the Documentary Hypothesis

Several years ago, the Wall Street Journal gave prominent recognition to a book called Who Wrote the Bible? The book was a popularization of the famous "Documentary Hypothesis," which claims that the Pentateuch was not the work of Moses, but was a (rather incompetent) pastiche of contradictory sources written much…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 17, 1992
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James

Creation Symbolism in the Epistle of James

The epistle of James has long presented dificulties for New Testament scholars. Its seemingly moralistic tone, its apparent inattention to theological concerns, its defense of "justification by works" all have made it dificult for interpreters to discern its compatibility with other New Testament books. Luther’s dismissal of James as an…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 17, 1992
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Leviticus

The Lamb of God, (Part 2)

Why the Lamb? But why the lamb? We have seen that the bull was the offering for the sins of priests, especially as they represented the nation before God in His house. Wasn’t Christ the greatest of all men? Wasn’t He the Great High Priest? Should He not rather be…

by James B. JordanAugust 24, 1992

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Reformers and Fathers on Justification

Chemnitz has some interesting comments on how the Reformers handled the patristic usage of ?justification,?Ewhich did not match their own usage. He admits that the ?fathers mostly take the word ?justify?Efor the renewal,?Ewhich is not the Reformation definition of ?justify,?Ebut he commends the fathers for those places ?where they according…

December 20, 2004

Chemnitz on Justification and Renewal

Chemnitz cites the views of the German Roman Catholic Johann Gropper (1503-59). According to Chemnitz, he ?argues at great length that Christ by his obedience did not merit only the remission of sins but also the Spirit of renewal; and that God remits sins to no one without at the…

December 20, 2004

Eucharistic Meditation, Fourth Advent

John 6:56: ?He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him?E This morning we have examined the Bible?s teaching on the mutual indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity. The Persons are distinct from each other, and not reducible to each other; the…

December 19, 2004

Exhortation, Fourth Advent

God created our bodies; He will redeem our bodies and raise them from the dead; and in between He calls us to ?present the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness?Eand to ?offer your bodies as living sacrifices.?EOur bodies are gifts from God, and we should offer them for…

December 19, 2004

Trinity, Worship, and Dialogue

INTRODUCTION We?ve been looking at Christian worship in the light of Scriptural patterns of sacrifice. This gives us an overall order or sequence of worship. In this session, I want to examine two main issues: First, the Trinitarian basis of worship, and second, the dialogic structure of worship. These are…

December 19, 2004

Escher and the Trinity

Thinking about perichoresis or about Gregory Nazianzen’s famous “No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am illumined by the splendour of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one” always makes me think of Escher. I find now that…

December 18, 2004

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